


Androcles

by Eldritch



Category: Suikoden V
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-05-14
Updated: 2006-05-14
Packaged: 2017-10-02 23:21:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eldritch/pseuds/Eldritch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lun, a dragon horse, and Rahal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Androcles

"Sometimes, I kinda wonder how I get myself into these situations," Lun grumbled, nudging the wobbly stool a little closer with her foot. She gingerly sat down on it, facing the situation in question. Who proceeded to huff exasperatedly in her face. "Quit'cher whining," she told it, tapping it hard on its snout, "an' show me your damn foot already."

The dragon horse huffed again, but obediently hunkered down onto its hindquarters. One large foot was held up for examination as it eyed her suspiciously. Lun grabbed the foot and braced it between her knees. "Well, shit," she said, frowning. "What'd ya do, step on a porcupine or somethin'? No wonder you've been complainin'."

Biting her lip in concentration, she leaned over the foot to get a better view of the sliver. It did sort of look like a porcupine quill--long, sharp, and probably a real pain to have wedged in your foot. Running her fingers gently over the fine scales that gave way to callused skin, she sighed. "Well, there's nothin' for it. 'S gonna have to come out."

This earned her a very dubious look. But the dragon horse didn't make any move to pull away, so Lun figured she'd take that as an agreement. The end of the spine or whatever it was stuck out a good few centimeters, so it wasn't that hard to get it between her finger and thumb and _pull_. The dragon horse thrashed and howled, causing her to have to clamp her knees together hard to keep it from tugging the foot away from her. Another moment and it was lose.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" she asked it when it finally began to calm down.

"Gronk," it said, sulkily shaking out its foot.

She held the bloodied spine in her hand, giving a whistle at the length. "Sure don't blame you for bein' all grumpy, though. This is a real _bitch_ of a--"

"What's going on here?"

Lun spun around fast enough that the stool nearly overbalanced. Rahal was standing in the doorway, and unreadable expression on his face. "Uh, sir! I, um, am I supposed to call you sir? 'Cause, see, it's just..." She trailed off. Shit, it would have to be Rahal. Roog and her, they had an understanding. But Rahal was something on an questionable area in her involvement with the dragon horses.

"Lun, isn't it?" He strode over to the dragon horse she'd been working on. It made a grumbly sort of noise, but butted his hand with its head when Rahal reached out to stroke it.

"Uh, yessir. I wasn't doin' nothin' to hurt this guy, honest"--the dragon horse gave her a _look_, and she gulped--"well, okay, maybe a little, but that was 'cause I needed to get this thing out." She held the quill up, nervously grinning. Hopefully, the man wouldn't decide to ban her from the stables. It'd make her pop ecstatic, but...

Rahal's eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline. "May I see that?" He took the proffered spine, looking it over with a faint frown on his face. "You removed this from him?"

Lun nodded. "Yessir. From his foot. I was comin' down to the boats, and I could hear him complainin' and stompin' around, so..."

"Hm." The Dragon Cavalry soldier's expression was unreadable. "I see. His rider should have noticed something like this."

"I know, right! That thing's frickin' huge! What the hell kind of rider doesn't notice when his dragon's hurtin' like that! Ooooh, if I get my hands on--" She broke off, a flush coming over her face. "Uh. Yeah. Sorry, sir."

"It's quite all right," Rahal said, and she noticed a faint smile tugging at his lips. "I was thinking something similar myself. In fact, would you like to be there when I reprimand the rider in question?"

She knew her mouth was hanging open, but she couldn't be arsed to do anything about it. "What, really? Like... really?"

This time, his smile was more obvious. "Indeed."

"Right on, sir!" She turned to grin at the dragon horse, who seemed to roll its eyes at her enthusiasm. "Oh, gronk to you too," she told it.

Rahal _laughed_.


End file.
